Made My Bed

My wife asked for a daybed, so I wanted to get it done quickly because I realized that if she wants something and I can get it to her before she had forgotten she had asked for it two years ago, then I would get points that can be traded in later for all sorts of things.

So it took me about 10 days, working on it a several hours a day. I had a fuzzy idea as to what the final product would look like, and I refined the vision as production progressed. This is not a hard thing to do for two reasons:

1. The economy of wood once again took the lead on the design of this day bed. The stock dimensional poplar at Lowe’s comes in six and eight foot length. The mattress comes in at 74” long. Trading the original mortise and tenons idea for dowels drawn tight with pocket screws saved me from purchasing 8 foot goods. Thus the dovetail on the headboard was my attempt to stretch a six foot board.2. My limited tools and skills determined everything else.

Overall, the bed worked. It can be dismantled in minutes and it’s surprisingly strong and sturdy. I since put a few coats of shellac on the important parts of the bed since brushing shellac into all the nooks and crannies would really put me to sleep.

To answer some questions, here’s a picture of me hand cutting the dovetails for the bed slat rails on the floor of the living room in my pajamas, November 2007. The bed is on the background standing up to conserve space. Good times.